Carter Brown view the solid gold mask of Tutankhamun after it was unpacked at the gallery. In addressing the public, the Director always referred to the institution he headed as “your Gallery.” August 8, 1976: Thomas Hoving, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Ibrahim Nawawy, first curator of the Cairo Museum and J. Having enjoyed an incomparable exposure to the world of art, and a thorough professional and academic training, Brown set himself a goal of bringing the joys of culture to a larger audience than the hermetic world of connoisseurs and art historians.

During his tenure, the Gallery’s endowment grew from $34 million to $186 million. Even as public funding from the arts came under intense political attack, he induced Congress to increase the Gallery’s operating budget year after year, from $3 million in 1969 to $52 million when he retired in 1992. When he set out to raise $50 million for a new acquisitions fund, he overshot the target and raised $56 million. The neoclassical style museum was designed by noted American architect John Russell Pope, and built in 1941.Ĭarter Brown was the first American museum director with a business degree. The south facade of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, seen from the National Mall’s walking path. He was only the third person to hold this position and would become the longest-serving director in the Gallery’s history. He was appointed assistant director in 1964, and in 1969, at the age of 34, he was appointed Director. In 1961, Brown joined the National Gallery as an assistant to the director, John Walker. With this preparation, he immersed himself in the study of art history in Europe, including studies with the renowned art historian Bernard Berenson, and completed a second master’s degree in art history at New York University. (Jack Robinson/Condé Nast/Getty)Īlthough he was already committed to a career in arts administration, Brown spent his undergraduate years studying history and literature, and acquired a master’s degree from Harvard Business School. Carter Brown, Director of Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art. Carter Brown fell in love with the National Gallery of Art and first conceived of a career that would allow him to pursue his love for all the arts and to share them with a larger public. While living with his family in Washington, D.C., the young J.

His father, John Nicholas Brown, served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Truman. His parents shared a passion for the arts and public service. His family had been prominent since before the Revolution, providing the initial endowment for what is today known as Brown University. John Carter Brown was born in Providence, Rhode Island.

Lover, Don't Come Back! by Carter Brown